AFL Fantasy Rookie Wrap Up 2017

Round 23 – the end of the home and away season and now we have the top eight finalised. Friday night opened the round with the Hawks and the Dogs playing what was pretty much a shoot out and pretty bruise free footy at that. The Hawks winning by 9 points as Hodge and Gibson retired on a winning note, while Murphy and Boyd finished with the loss. Saturday saw the Demons start slowly against the Pies and lose by 16, putting them at risk from teams still to play. The Lions lost to the visiting Roos, gifting the Lions the wooden spoon and pick number one in the draft. The Swans killed the Blues by 81, Geelong dominated the Giants by 44 and the Power blew up the Suns to the tune of 115. The eight was not set moving into Sunday. The Bombers gave retirees Watson, Kelly and Stanton a chance to play one more time and took down the Dockers by 15 points, jumping to seventh on the ladder replacing the Dees. The Tigers took care of the Saints by 41 as we all said goodbye to Nick Riewoldt. The minor premiers the Crows took on the desperate Eagles and to most people’s surprise the Eagles ended up winners by 29, relegating the Dees to ninth on the ladder by just 0.5%. Congratulations to Adelaide, Geelong, Richmond and GWS securing top 4 spots and a second chance. Rounding out the eight, we congratulate Port Adelaide, Sydney, Essendon (YES!!!!) and West Coast – all with at least one more week of footy in the 2017 season.

TOP 5 SCORERS IN ROUND 23

#1 Alex Witherden (Defender / Midfielder) Brisbane Score: 99

#2 Dan Houston (Defender / Forward) Port Adelaide Score: 91

#3 Will Brodie (Midfielder) Gold Coast Score: 89

#4 Jack Graham (Forward) Richmond Score: 84

#5 Sam Durdin (Defender) North Melbourne Score: 83

TOP 10 OVERALL

#1 Nic Newman (Defender) Sydney

Total Score: 1559 Average per round: 86.6 (18 Games)

#2 Sam Powell-Pepper (Midfielder) Port Adelaide

Total Score: 1468 Average per round: 69.9 (21 Games)

#3 Andrew McGrath (Defender / Midfielder) Essendon

Total Score: 1410 Average per round: 70.5 (20 Games)

#4 Samo Petrevski-Seton (Midfielder) Carlton

Total Score: 1355 Average per round: 67.8 (19 Games)

#5 Dan Houston (Defender / Forward) Port Adelaide

Total Score: 1160 Average per round: 72.5 (16 Games)

#6 Mitch Hannan (Forward) Melbourne

Total Score: 1149 Average per round: 57.5 (20 Games)

#7 Jake Barrett (Midfielder) Brisbane

Total Score: 1129 Average per round: 66.4 (18 Games)

#8 Dan Butler (Forward) Richmond

Total Score: 1118 Average per round: 55.9 (20 Games)

#9 Hugh McCluggage (Midfielder / Forward) Brisbane

Total Score: 1102 Average per round: 61.2 (18 Games)

#10 Tom Stewart (Defender) Geelong

Total Score: 1085 Average per round: 60.3 (18 Games)

ROOKIES TO WATCH FOR NEXT YEAR

Last week I named my All Australian Rookie Team. No doubt a few players didn’t make the side due to lack of games, low scoring efficiency, injuries, etc. Besides all our star performers that made the Rookie team, here are a few other names to keep in mind for fantasy 2018. This group of players debuted in 2017, but later in the year and produced some nice totals.

Mitch Hallahan (Midfielder) Gold Coast

Jack Graham (Forward) Richmond

Corey Maynard (Midfielder) Melbourne

Sam Durdin (Defender) North Melbourne

Josh Begley (Forward) Essendon

Brennan Cox (Defender) Fremantle

Ryan Nyhuis (Defender) Fremantle

Connor Glass (Defender) Hawthorn

Max Spencer (Defender) Gold Coast

Lewis Young (Forward) Western Bulldogs

Alex Keith (Defender) Adelaide

Cedric Cox (Defender) Brisbane

James Cousins (Midfielder) Hawthorn

Jy Simpkin (Forward) North Melbourne

Jarrod Pickett (Midfielder / Forward) Carlton

Oliver Florent (Midfielder / Forward) Sydney

Harley Balic (Midfielder / Forward) Fremantle

Sam Skinner (Defender) Brisbane

Jacob Allison (Midfielder / Forward) Brisbane

Some of these players were very close on All Rookie Team selection. Players like Mitch Hallahan, Jack Graham, Alex Keath, Cedric Cox, Corey Maynard, Josh Begley, Sam Durdin, Lewis Young, Jacob Allison, Ryan Nyhuis, Brennan Cox, and Connor Glass – All have nice scores but just didn’t play enough and mostly debuted late. In comparison to Jy Simpkin, James Cousins, Max Spencer, Oliver Florent & Jarrod Pickett – most played plenty of games, but just need more time to develop at senior level and in turn will increase their outputs. Special mentions to Harley Balic – Harley will be looking for a new club in Victoria after struggling away from home mid-year, could be a smokey depending where he ends up. Also Sam Skinner, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan was very impressed with what he had to offer this year – however injury stalled his season. Look for him to get game time next year.

FINAL WORD

Well, that closes out my first season of writing articles at Over The Line Sport. I have enjoyed testing myself as a writer, which is something out of my comfort zone. Thanks to Zane, Corey, Archie, Steve, Herbie and the team of writers for inviting me to take up this opportunity. Thanks of course to you, the reader for reading my take on the fantasy rookies. Making the experience a little sweeter, was watching my Bombers return to finals footy after the past 5 years years of hell. I stuck by my club and always will. Huge shout out to retiring Bombers Brent Stanton – a loyal club man, James Kelly – a stand up champion who helped steer the club through difficult times and last but not least Jobe Watson – a courageous man who took the brunt of the media’s focus during the majority of the scandal, which was by no means an easy task and the strain showed at times. Thanks and best wishes to all the AFL retirees as their playing chapters close and to their future endeavors’.